Officials not keen on bending the rules for Apple

Indian officials are not keen to grant Apple their demand for tax incentives and concessions.
source: indianexpress.com

Apple’s decision to set their manufacturing unit in India made news that excited a lot of Indians. It is a sign that India is going the right way in its economic growth prospect. But now the officials are not too keen about Apple’s demand from the government regarding tax benefits and payments. Apple is reportedly asking for concessions that haven’t been given to any other foreign companies. With their demands an official said that Modi’s vision for a better India will be much difficult to achieve. Apple wants to open its own stores in India.

Prime Minister Modi asked them to locally source some of their raw materials in order to boost the manufacturing sector. The agreed work made between Modi and Cook includes four projects: assembling iPhones, opening more Apple stores, importing pre-owned iPhones and refurbishing them in India. But Apple has demanded for duty exemption on raw materials for manufacturing, components and capital equipment for 15 years for both the domestic and export markets among many other demands. It also asked to ease the government rules on importing defective iPhones which they will repair and export again. The current rule restricts imports on phones older than three years.

Apple has reportedly got concessions in other markets and asks India to be flexible in their import rules.source: libyanexpress.com

Officials said that if these are granted to the company it will not be fair to the other foreign countries already operating in India. Apple has achieved in receiving concessions similar to this in other markets. They said that government support is crucial for them to set their manufacturing unit in India. Many officials say that Apple has agreed to do this because they know that India is a lucrative market and not because India needs them. Bending the rules for them will effect in value addition. But Modi can do this in order to get them back on schedule. Apple in a letter to India said that India needs to make an “attractive environment” for it to start manufacturing here. In June 2016 government had eased the sourcing rules for Apple just a month after the finance ministry rejected the company’s request for a waiver. A meeting will take place on January 25th with departments of industry , information technology and electronics present to discuss the rules and concessions with Apple. Another official said that rules can’t be made for individual companies, it can be made only for industries.Minister of Trade, Nirmala Sitharaman said that if rules are going to be changed for Apple it will be changed for all the manufacturing units and not just them.